A Cinematic Masterpiece: Gone With the Wind

A film with three directors (one of whom suffered a nervous breakdown), thirteen writers, and continuous controversy surrounding it before and during filming: It may not sound like the recipe for the most successful film of all time, but it is. Gone With the Wind is the film by which all others are measured. It's still the highest-grossing film of all time (when you compare ticket prices in 1939 to ticket prices in 2004). Gone With the Wind is consistently ranked among the best films of all time in virtually every poll. After just one viewing, the reason becomes clear.

Gone With the Wind is a sweeping, majestic, soap opera-ish romantic drama set before, during and after the Civil War. To sum it up, it's a story about obsession, jealousy, greed, selfishness, passion, tragedy, love, and the end of an era. The film chronicles the lives of the O'Hara family, their plantation Tara, and the people (especially men) who come in and out of their lives.

The story begins in pre-Civil War Georgia. Free-spirited Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is wanted by all the men in Atlanta. But she's shocked when she finds a man who doesn't want to marry her – modest Southern gentleman Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). So Scarlett sets about trying to convince him that she is the woman he wants to marry. Unfortunately for Scarlett, Ashley is engaged to his sweet and saintly cousin Melanie (Olivia De Havilland).

All of this is further complicated when another character enters the picture – rich and obnoxious military man/lady-killer Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Rhett is widely hated, particularly because he speaks the truth in an era when the truth was largely denied. The first time we see him, he says if the North and South do have a war, there's no way the South will win. Everybody knows it's true, but they insist he's wrong anyway.

Most of the film centers on this romantic quadrangle unfolding against the backdrop of the Civil War. Scarlett thinks she's in love with Ashley. Ashley won't leave his wife and loves Scarlett in a friendly way. Melanie loves Ashley and her new friend Scarlett. Rhett is deeply in love with Scarlett, and she loves him back, but she is so obsessed with Ashley that she doesn't realize it until it's too late.

The performances in Gone With the Wind are absolutely stunning. Leigh beat out literally thousands of actresses for the part of Scarlett, and won the role over Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Irene Dunne, Lana Turner, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, Tallulah Bankhead, and Claudette Colbert, among others. The filmmakers made the right decision in casting the then-relatively unknown Leigh. She is marvelous here, and she creates one of the most memorable and believable characters on film. Leigh won an Oscar for her performance, but Gable is the real standout. How the Academy decided that Gable's performance wasn't Oscar-worthy is beyond me. Gable gives what is arguably his greatest performance, and no other actor could have done a better job. Gable and Leigh are perfect together. Their body language and the way they look at each other says so much more than their words.

Supporting performances are also superb. Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to be nominated for an Oscar, and she won for Best Supporting Actress. Her character Mammy is probably the smartest and most sensible person in the film. When Scarlett goes to live with her aunt ("to mourn the death of her first husband"), Mammy knows Scarlett is really going there to see Ashley. De Havilland, who was originally cast as Scarlett, is outstanding as Melanie. And Butterfly McQueen as slave Prissy ("I don't know nothin' bout birthin' babies") gives a memorable and believable performance. The one performance that isn't outstanding is Howard's. He just isn't charming or handsome enough to justify Scarlett's obsession with him. Overall, though, the cast is one of the best in film history.

Over sixty years after its initial release, Gone With the Wind is still an astonishing film. Some scenes are still amazingly powerful, such as the burning of Atlanta; Scarlett, unable to get a doctor, and Prissy delivering Melanie's baby; and the scene where Scarlett wanders into the street and the camera pulls back to reveal bleeding, dying men as far as the eye can see.

Gone With the Wind is a true masterpiece of the cinema. It is safe to say that it will be around for years to come. Like the pre-Civil War Southern culture that is "gone with the wind," the age when Gone With the Wind was made may be gone, but it's certainly not forgotten.

Academy Award Winner:

Best Picture
Best Actress (Vivien Leigh)
Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel)
Best Director (Victor Fleming)
Best Color Cinematography (Ernest Haller, Ray Rennahan)
Best Film Editing (Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom)
Best Interior Decoration (Lyle Wheeler)
Best Screenplay (Sidney Howard)

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Actor (Clark Gable)
Best Supporting Actress (Olivia De Havilland)
Best Sound Recording (Thomas T. Moulton)
Best Special Effects (Jack Cosgrove, Fred Albin, Arthur Johns)
Best Original Score (Max Steiner)

Rated G for mild language and violence.

© LH 2004